Sensus naturae. Connection with nature in the psychoanalysis’s history.

Sensus naturae is spiritual connection between animals and the anima mundi (also known as Mercurius tor the Holy Spirit). In the pre-scientific world his "sense of nature" is the reason why animals can forecast. Examples of these forecasts are ants coming out from the ground, the dog howling in anticipation of an earthquake or when animal participating in synchronicity. A well-known example of that is the Jung's story about a beetle, which got in his cabinet in the therapy time and has look like scarab.

This story happened with Jung and one of his patient. It was very hard for him to work with that patient. One evening, sitting in the Jung’s office, the patient told him about her last dream. In the dream the precious elegant jewelry - golden scarab was given to her. After that dream-story an unusual beetle softly knocked in the window ...

Jung was surprised to see that some flying insects furiously beating on the outer side of the window. He opened the flap and caught the intruder. Ater closer examination it was found that the insect is the closest analogue of the scarab, which could appear in the local lands! That type of beetle looks exactly like scarab and known Cetonia aurata. "Here's your golden scarab!" - with these words Jung gave the woman the insect.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (German humanist, doctor, alchemist, natural philosopher, occultist, astrologer and a lawyer) also recognizes the "glow of sensus naturae" (literally: "the consciousness of nature "). Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz (Ph.D., accomplise and closest colleague of Jung) said that it means to be instinctively or intuitively associated with surrounding nature. Exactly from those consciousness get insightful or prophetic glow the four-legged animals, birds and other creatures and that gives them the ability to anticipate future events. Agrippa borrowed the concept of "consciousness of nature” (sensus naturae) from William Paris. William Paris believed that the consciousness of nature (sensus naturae) is a higher consciousness than the ordinary human forms of perception and he especially stressed that animals also have it. The doctrine of the consciousness of nature (sensus naturae) evolved from the earlier ideas of the world soul which is everything. World soul represent natural forces which are set drive all the phenomena of life and mind.

That’s confirmed by the words of Jungian psychologist Barbara Hannak in the article abouy symbolism of animals: "It is interesting that when I was preparing to that seminar I got a boor from America. The central theme of that book is forgotten and discontinued relationship with animals. Allen Boone’s book "The relationship with all life" can sound too sentimental so it causes irritation during reading, but it contains a very interesting conclusion that we can not only communicate with the higher animals, such as dogs or horses, but we can in a certain way to cooperate with the other forms of life, such as insects (Boone, 1954). He doesn’t affirm that we can learn animal language, but he suggests that there is a guiding principle for all forms of life. He calls it "the Mind of the Universe" or "Invisible basic factor". Connecting to this level in nature and ourselves we also establish a connection to all other forms of life and made possible to communicate with them in some way. Like an example Boone led an anecdote in which he reached the gentlemen's agreement with the devastating hordes of ants that aggressively invades his old-fashioned refrigerator and attacked all the food in the house. He spoke to them a long speech, praising their intelligence, ability to concentrate and harmonious spirit in the work, and explained that he wouldn’t poison them if they will retreat. That evening, after weeks of invasions, they went and didn’t return. Although they continued to penetrate into other houses in that area. That story sounds ridiculous to our rational ears, but if you look to the behavior of animals in the wild in the sense of an absolute deep communication, and if we take into account our own irrational experience of communication on such level with a vital source of knowledge in nature and in us, then Boone’s story might not be completely nonsense. Animals, including insects, is much more righteous than us, because they are consistently doing the will of God and always remain themselves, while we use the small amount of free will which we got and after that disobey it and deviate from our own natural way over and over .And respecting the "will of God".

Sources: Gary Seaman "Individuation and thin body," Barbara Hanna "The symbolism of animals."

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